surprise apple-cranberry cobbler

[sionainn]

What to do when it's a dreary Saturday afternoon and you have to bring something to a birthday party that evening and you don't feel like going out to the grocery store?

Since I have been on a rather draconian diet, I have not been keeping any baking items on hand - not even mixes that I keep for occasions just like this to doctor up and make my own wonderful concoctions that nobody EVER guesses came mostly from a box!

What I had on hand:
A box of "low-fat" orange-cranberry muffin mix that I found buried far back in the pantry shelf. 4 apples. A pitiful handful of crystallized ginger. All kinds of baking spices & vanilla sugar. Dried cranberries. Lots of leftover dregs of alcohol from my wedding last week.

Hmmmmm... what to do?

Surprise Apple-Cranberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Krusteaz “low-fat” orange-cranberry muffin mix
• 1 cup of dried cranberries
• 4 semi-tart firm apples (such as Pink Lady), peeled, cored, chopped in big chunks
• 1 cup apple pie mead (or honey mead)
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (increase to 3 teaspoons if using honey mead)
• ½ cup of chopped crystallized ginger
• 1 cup vanilla sugar, divided use
• Grand Marnier
• lime or lemon juice
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


2. Prepare 8-inch round deep baking dish with cooking spray or brush with melted butter and set aside.


3. Open package of muffin mix and take out canned cranberries. Dump canned cranberries and juice in a heavy saucepan with the dried cranberries, crystallized ginger, and apple pie mead. Add ½ cup vanilla sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes (stirring frequently) or until dried cranberries are plump and most of the liquid is cooked down and thickened.


4. Meanwhile, peel & core & chop apples and layer in baking dish sprinkling with a tablespoon or so of vanilla sugar and some lime juice in between layers.


5. Prepare the muffin mix using melted butter, some water (or buttermilk if available), and a liberal dose of Grand Marnier (about ¼ cup). Batter should be thick.


6. Pour the stewed cranberries over the apples in the baking dish. Plop spoonfuls of batter over fruit leaving some to show through if possible.


7. Bake about 45-55 mins (watch carefully during the last 10 minutes so it doesn’t burn!) or until the top is a medium golden brown and toothpick test reveals done batter.

Enjoy with spiced whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream!

This went so quickly that I only got a taste of someone else's serving. It was really, really, REALLY good!